Feet of Clay: The Passing of the Ultimate Warrior

James Hellwig, who wrestled as the Ultimate Warrior, has passed away at the age of 54, just days after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He is survived by a wife and two daughters.

Those are not easy sentences to understand. Or, rather, those sentences contain a complexity that is not readily apparent. James Hellwig has died, and with him his wrestling persona, the Ultimate Warrior. Few wrestlers have encouraged fans to so clearly think of the man and the wrestler as different beings than Mr. Hellwig over the years, and this despite legally changing his name to “Warrior” and merging the two personas during his Hall of Fame induction speech. The Warrior’s stock in trade was a kind of primal mysticism, while James Hellwig’s approach was less philosophical, more political, and often repugnant. The night before his death, in his last public appearance, Hellwig…